Abstract:
Abstract
Introduction: According to International Labor Organization report of 2017, more than 340
million accidents and diseases occurred on the job yearly and about 50% to 60% of them
cause employees away from work due to illness (sickness absenteeism) for at least four
working days. Sickness absenteeism occurs when employees miss work due to health
problems. It results in economic effects and loss of work time in both developing and
developed countries. However, there is scarcity of information on the magnitude and factors
associated with sickness absenteeism in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to
determine the magnitude of sickness absenteeism and identify associated factors among
flower industries in Bishoftu town.
Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April, 2018.
Stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling method was used to select 444 study
participants. Data was collected through face to face interview method using structured and
pretested questionnaire. SPSS version 20 was used to carry out binary logistic regression
analysis. Odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals was calculated and significance of
associations were determined at p-value < 0.05.
Results: A total of 444 employees completed the questionnaire making response rate of
100%. The prevalence of sickness absenteeism among flower industry workers was 54.5 %
[95 % CI: (50.2, 59.0)] in the past six months.The factors associated with sickness
absenteeism on the multivariable analysis were sex [AOR: 2.6, 95% CI: (1.71, 4.01)], sickness
presenteeism [AOR: 3.2, 95 % CI: (2.03, 4.92)], drinking alcohol [AOR: 1.6, 95 % CI: (1.02,
2.59)], and job satisfaction [AOR: 1.6, 95 % CI: (1.04, 2.44)].
Conclusion: In this study, more than half of the study participants had exprerienced
sickness absenteeism in past six months. Interventions should focus on managing working
condition of women, improving workers’ job satisfaction and addressing sickness absenteeism
and sickness presenteeism simultaneously.
Key words: Sickness Absenteeism, Flower Industry workers, Prevalence, associated
factors, cross-sectional, Ethiop
